Chapter Ninety: The Golden Armor Appears

Before long, almost no one remained who had not taken a turn. Only Chu Jie had yet to go up, Zhou Jie had yet to go up, and one martial cultivator with a rather pale face still had not made the attempt.

Chu Jie had not gone because he simply did not care. Zhou Jie, on the other hand, seemed to want to discover how to awaken the spiritual energy cluster above. The pale cultivator appeared to have similar intentions as well.

Under the expectant gaze of the crowd, the pale cultivator stepped forward, but there was still no response. He looked up at the spiritual energy cluster, looking thoroughly vexed.

Earlier, when the other martial cultivators failed to stir the cluster, they had already been terribly frustrated. Now, seeing someone else meet the same fate, they felt oddly pleased. One and all, their faces showed a gleeful expression, the very picture of someone who cannot have a taste and so would deny it to everyone else.

“Is there something wrong with that spiritual energy cluster?” someone shouted after the cultivator stepped down.

The others also felt that this was very likely. Otherwise, how could so many attempts have produced no reaction at all? Could it really be that the requirements were this strict?

This cavern had existed for a very long time, and everyone assumed that age had taken its toll and something had gone wrong.

Zhou Jie had been watching all along, but he too seemed to have learned nothing. He glanced at Chu Jie. Only the two of them remained. If no one else succeeded, then the final person to become a Golden Armor Warrior would have to be one of them.

Chu Jie looked at the spiritual energy cluster in the center and wondered whether he ought to step forward. He did not want to become a Golden Armor Warrior.

From all the signs so far, once one became a Golden Armor Warrior, a slaughter of heaven-shaking scale would follow. Otherwise, that peerless fiend would not have gone to the trouble of gathering together so many people burdened with bloodshed.

Everyone here was the sort of martial cultivator who acted decisively and killed without hesitation. If they were to gain immense power, they would almost certainly create even more carnage.

As for Chu Jie, whenever he killed, it was out of necessity. Though his hands were stained with blood, those people had deserved death.

Unlike Zhou Jie, who killed entirely for personal gain and even slaughtered his own people without hesitation, a madman through and through.

Chu Jie took a deep breath and walked up, standing beneath the spiritual energy cluster.

A faint, almost imperceptible ripple descended from it, circled through his body once, then returned.

After more than ten breaths, nothing happened. The spiritual energy cluster remained unchanged.

Chu Jie let out a breath of relief. He did not want to become like that peerless fiend, possessing great strength yet confined to the Abyss of Gods and Demons, existing in a state neither human nor ghost.

Among the martial cultivators present, only Zhou Jie had yet to make his attempt.

Zhou Jie looked at Chu Jie and sneered. “Some people are simply not meant to become Star Core Realm cultivators. I, however, will certainly become one. I will wear the golden armor and kill all of you. You dare fight me for it? You are simply courting death.”

As soon as he spoke, everyone glared at him angrily. What did he mean, fight him for it? The chance had been available to everyone. How could that be called stealing?

“The peerless fiend already told us before that one among us would definitely become a Golden Armor Warrior. None of you are fit. Now that only I remain, the position is surely mine,” Zhou Jie laughed, striding forward as he crossed paths with Chu Jie, who was walking down.

As Chu Jie passed him, he heard Zhou Jie whisper, “Once I become a Golden Armor Warrior, you will be the first I kill.”

Chu Jie had the urge to kill him on the spot, but the peerless fiend was not far away. Even if he struck, he might not be able to kill Zhou Jie, and in the end he would still have to bear the peerless fiend’s wrath. So he forced himself to hold back and returned to the group.

At last, Zhou Jie stood beneath the spiritual energy cluster. The moment he took his place, the cluster changed at once, becoming wildly unstable and twisting constantly in the air.

“Haha... Did you see that? I told you the person who becomes a Golden Armor Warrior would be me. Once I reach the Star Core Realm, I will kill every one of you!” Zhou Jie’s eyes turned blood-red, and his killing intent seemed almost tangible, oppressive enough to make one’s skin crawl.

Chu Jie said solemnly, “His aura has been amplified by the spiritual energy cluster. That is why it has become so terrifying.”

Duan Kun said, “Now we are in trouble. If he becomes a Golden Armor Warrior, it will be very difficult for us to kill him.”

Chu Jie nodded. “Yes. We are in serious trouble.”

They wanted to stop the ritual, but the peerless fiend would never give them the chance. They had long since witnessed just how formidable that fiend was.

Zhou Jie’s body suddenly floated upward, his eyes tightly shut, a look of agony on his face. At that moment, a beam of light descended from the spiritual energy cluster straight into the center of his brow.

Zhou Jie screamed miserably. His voice was shrill and anguished, his hair beginning to whip into disarray, his body jerking as if wracked by unbearable pain.

Chu Jie was stunned. What sort of method was this, to bring about such excruciating suffering?

Wu Long and the others behind him also felt a chill of terror. By now everyone had retreated to the farthest edge of the cavern, afraid of being affected by Zhou Jie.

Just then, the spiritual energy cluster above Zhou Jie suddenly began to shrink rapidly. A pillar of light shot down from its center and entered the crown of his head.

Zhou Jie gave an even more tragic cry, but his cultivation began to surge madly. It kept climbing higher and higher, and before long he had already reached the eighth level of the Spirit Gathering Realm. At that point, he was already stronger than Chu Jie.

By then, more than half of the spiritual energy cluster overhead had been consumed, yet it still continued pouring into Zhou Jie’s body.

His body grew stronger and stronger.

Chu Jie’s expression darkened. If the enemy grew this powerful, how would he be able to kill him in the future?

The spiritual energy cluster continued to diminish, while Zhou Jie had already reached the peak of the Spirit Gathering Realm and could break through to the Star Core Realm at any moment.

The Star Core Realm was the level of a true martial cultivator. Below that realm, Spirit Gathering cultivators were no more than ants.

The beam above Zhou Jie grew ever more brilliant, while the spiritual energy cluster overhead rapidly withered away. By now, only a faint shadow remained, most of its power having been poured into Zhou Jie’s body.

Chu Jie stared intently. If anything changed, he would need to respond at once. At the same time, he was also searching for any possible route of escape. If Zhou Jie truly succeeded, then he would have to find a way out.

At the same time, Chu Jie could not help feeling fortunate that this was only a small karst cave. If it had been the original one they discovered, Zhou Jie’s strength would have risen to who knew what terrifying extent. Here, constrained by the size of the cave, he might only reach the early stage.

Though only the early stage of the Star Core Realm, that was still not something the people here could contend with.

At that moment, the spiritual energy cluster had completely vanished. Zhou Jie’s body descended back to the ground. Standing in the center of the cave now, he said nothing. His eyes were utterly lifeless, his gaze a dull crimson.

“What happened to him? Did he fail?” someone asked.

But the overwhelming pressure radiating from Zhou Jie kept everyone rooted in place. A single misstep and they might be slaughtered.

Chu Jie frowned at Zhou Jie. The other man’s aura had not yet reached its peak; it was still strengthening.

Although the spiritual energy cluster was gone, all of that power had entered Zhou Jie’s body.

Chu Jie felt somewhat vexed. If all that power had entered his own body, he would surely have advanced as well, and become even stronger.

But the problem was that once one became a Golden Armor Warrior, one’s will seemed to be weakened beyond measure.

Chu Jie waited to see what Zhou Jie would become.

Just then, a suit of golden armor slowly descended from the top of the cave. It gleamed brilliantly, dazzling the eye.

Everyone’s eyes went green with envy. Even Chu Jie felt a little tempted by that suit of armor. It was unquestionably a very formidable treasure.

Now, that suit of golden armor slowly came to rest before Zhou Jie, split apart of its own accord, and then fitted itself onto his body.

After the sound of metal grinding against metal, the armor was fully donned. Zhou Jie had become exactly like the Golden Armor Warriors from before, with only a pair of eyes exposed.

Chu Jie could tell that those eyes held no trace of life.

At this point, Zhou Jie had fully become a Golden Armor Warrior. His eyes were hollow, as though he had become another person entirely. But when he saw Chu Jie, fierce killing intent suddenly erupted from him.

Chu Jie froze. He had not expected that Zhou Jie, in this state, would still remember him. Clearly, his hatred ran very deep.

And so it proved true: once one became a Golden Armor Warrior, even one’s sanity would be lost. The current Golden Armor Warrior was nothing more than a puppet in the hands of the peerless fiend.

All the martial cultivators turned deathly pale. Only then did they fully wake up to reality, grateful that they had not been chosen by the spiritual energy cluster. Otherwise, they too would now have become like Zhou Jie. A wave of lingering fear washed over them.

“Boss, has he already lost himself?” Wu Long asked.

“He should have,” Chu Jie said. “Otherwise, he would have attacked us already.”

Wu Long nodded. “Since we failed to become Golden Armor Warriors, will that peerless fiend kill us?”

As soon as he said it, all the martial cultivators were stunned. Wu Long had not lowered his voice, and everyone heard him.

Fear gripped all of them.

Chu Jie said, “Probably not.”

It was only an intuition. Their living value was greater; they could help the peerless fiend eliminate other martial cultivators.

At that moment, Zhou Jie suddenly moved, dropping to one knee and facing the direction of the peerless fiend, paying no heed to Chu Jie and the others at all.

Zhou Jie’s cultivation had already reached the Star Core Realm, but he was merely a puppet of the peerless fiend.

The peerless fiend seemed very satisfied. He transformed into a streak of red light and flew away, disappearing from the cave.

As for Zhou Jie, clad in golden armor, he slowly rose to his feet, turned around, and looked at Chu Jie and the others. In those once hollow eyes, boundless killing intent suddenly erupted.

That overwhelming murderous aura instantly swallowed Chu Jie and the others. Everyone was shocked. Was this the might of the Star Core Realm? It was too terrifying.

Under such pressure, even if one tried to strike, at most half one’s strength could be brought to bear. There was no way they could defeat Zhou Jie, and this was only the early stage of the Star Core Realm.

But just as Zhou Jie was about to make his move, a streak of red light fell from the top of the cave and entered his mind.

Zhou Jie’s eyes once again sank into emptiness. His killing intent vanished in an instant, and then he rose into the air and disappeared from the cave as well.

After a violent tremor, it seemed that the great hall above had departed.

“Have we been abandoned here?” one martial cultivator asked.